The Camp Fire Girls Do Their Bit eBook

Sammy Boy and the Skyscraper got their tails twisted
and came to earth in a tangled mass; American Eagle
was top heavy and flopped around in circles and never
rose higher than fifty feet, Mikado went up steadily
but slowly, straining at its weighted tail; and Victory
Bird, whom everybody expected to win, came a close
second, and that was all. Many Eyes got to the
end of her string first and danced triumphantly about
in the air, several yards above Victory Bird.
With everything dead set against her, broken looking
glass, salt weights, only one eye, and not a single
good luck symbol on her anywhere she had come out first
in spite of it all!

Then the Winnebagos nearly split their throats cheering,
and Agony, who had slipped back to them, cheered louder
than all the rest, advertising to all within earshot
that she was a Winnebago and belonged to the winning
entry.

“And to think,” marveled Hinpoha, “that
with all her lucky symbols, the other Many Eyes came
to grief, and this one won without a single thing
to help her! I’ll never have faith in good
and bad luck signs again!”

The Scout who had scoffed at Many Eyes before the
contest came around afterward and looked her over
thoughtfully, and discussed her construction in a
decidedly respectful tone with Sahwah.

“Now, can a girl design a kite?” asked
Sahwah triumphantly.

“I guess she can,” admitted the Scout
as graciously as he could under the circumstances.
He was the one who had designed Victory Bird and it
was hard for him to admit that he had been beaten by
a girl.

“But then, you’re a Camp Fire Girl,”
he added, as if it were not so much of a defeat to
be beaten by a Camp Fire Girl as by an ordinary girl.

“But what did you put the one eye on her for?”
he finished curiously.

“So she could see where she was going,”
replied Sahwah gravely.

“But why didn’t you put two eyes
in her?” persisted the Scout.

“Because she only needed one to see to get ahead
of your kites,” answered Sahwah, and
felt that her triumph was complete.

After the contest was over the Winnebagos went out
rowing on the river with Mr. Wing and the artist and
Slim and the Captain. Oh-Pshaw wouldn’t
go, nothing would ever induce her to go rowing, so
Nyoda stayed out with her while the rest went.
Slim and the Captain had a private squabble as to
which one should have Hinpoha in his boat and while
they were squabbling she got into the boat with the
artist, so the Captain solaced himself with Sahwah
and Agony, and Slim took Gladys and Veronica.
Migwan got into the boat with Mr. Wing, an arrangement
which pleased them both, for Migwan thought Mr. Wing
the most charming man in the world, and he was very
fond of the sweet, Madonna-faced girl with the beautiful,
thoughtful eyes and the intellectual forehead.

“Who’s the nervy party with the chin whiskers
that’s cabbaged Hinpoha?” asked the Captain
of Sahwah, scowling crossly after the leading boat,
which was already drawing away from the rest of the
party.